A Beautiful (and tasty) Mess

This past week has been so busy and stressful. It seemed like everything was overwhelming. Thursday and Friday were so crazy that Jeff and I did not get to spend hardly any time together, and then he was working all day Saturday. I have been so consumed with school work that I haven't been spending much quality time doing things with the girls. So, today after church I decided that we needed some sort of family activity to bring us together to just spend time with each other.

Baking is one of my favorite things to do when I just want to let the problems of life fade away into the background. The warmth of the oven, the wonderful smells wafting up from mixing bowls, cooking sheets and baking pans, and the delight found in the first taste of a warm treat were exactly what I thought that I needed after the week that I've had. So I took inventory of what was in the pantry and picked out a recipe. I wanted something seasonal. Fall. It sure doesn't feel like fall here in Texas just yet, but it is officially fall, so whatever we were going to bake was required to have cinnamon and nutmeg in the ingredients list. Glazed Sweet Potato Pound Cake. Perfect.

Sometimes I forget that my favorite tiny humans (Sophia and Aaryn) don't always mix well with my favorite hobbies. Baking is involved. Sometimes the tiny humans who are desperate to help and be involved take an enjoyable process and turn it into a time consuming, semi-chaotic, flour filled mess. So, it wasn't the relaxing, blow-off-steam experience I was looking for. Even so, it was full of laughs and giggles, learning and we were all together.

Jeff helped Sophia and Aaryn measure the dry ingredients, while I cooked and mashed the sweet potatoes. With each measuring cup full of flour that they put into the bowl, little white clouds floated up around their sweet faces. Aaryn loved the process of scooping and pouring, scooping and pouring. The sweet potatoes creamed together with the vanilla and eggs so smoothly into a rich subtly-orange paste. We got everything mixed together and then realized that we had completely forgotten to add the butter and the sugar. You'll be happy to know that you can add those last and it'll still turn out great.

Sophia was so excited waiting for the cake to come out of the oven. The spiced scent rising from the oven and filling the kitchen was a tantalizing foretelling of what we would taste later. When we pulled it out oven it was a perfect "baked sweet potato" color, with a crisp crust around the edges. After letting it to cool enough to take it out of the pan, Sophia got to have the first piece of warm cake drizzled with a sweet sugary glaze. Probably not the best choice for right before bedtime, but what oh well. Sometimes it's nice to treat your children to special things.

Baking with the girls is something that I think that I am going to miss when they are grown up and moved away. The awe and curiosity that they display throughout the whole process is so so sweet. Sophia's desire to help any way that she can and Aaryn's quite nature and tendency to always observe everything so intently are traits that I hope that they don't grow out of when they are older. Letting the girls help me in the kitchen can be so stressful because of my habit of setting up high standards for the outcome. When I am able to let go of my standards and perfectionism I am able to really enjoy the amazing people that they are.

Glazed Sweet Potato Pound Cake

(This recipe was taken from Allrecipes.com)

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner' sugar (for glaze)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk (for glaze)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla (for glaze)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-in bunt pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add mashed sweet potatoes and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time (the batter will look curdled). Add flour mixture to potato mixture. Beat on low until combined.
3. Pour batter into 10-in bunt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool cake for 20 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan and place on serving plate.
4. To make the glaze, place the sugar in a medium bowl and slowly stir in the milk and vanilla, a little at a time, to make a smooth pourable glaze. Immediately drizzle onto warm cake.